WSJ Fires Top Reporter Over Questionable Business Dealings With CIA Gunrunner

The Wall Street Journal fired one of their top reporters after an investigation by the AP concluding that he “engaged in questionable business arrangements with a source”.

The reporter, Jay Solomon, was WSJ’s “chief foreign correspondent reporter” until it was revealed that one of his primary sources, FarhadAzima, known for being an arms-dealer relative to the CIA, offered Solomon a stake in a company of his.

The Hill reports:

The Wall Street Journal has fired one of its top reporters after an Associated Press investigation revealed he had engaged in questionable business arrangements with a source.

Jay Solomon, the paper’s chief foreign correspondent, was let go after the AP revealed one of his sources, Farhad Azim, a CIA arms dealer, had offered him a stake in one of his companies.

“I clearly made mistakes in my reporting and entered into a world I didn’t understand.” Solomon told the AP. “I never entered into any business with Farhad Azima, nor did I ever intend to. But I understand why the emails and the conversations I had with Mr. Azima may look like I was involved in some seriously troubling activities. I apologize to my bosses and colleagues at the Journal, who were nothing but great to me.”

The Wall Street Journal said in a statement it was “dismayed” by Solomon’s actions and “poor judgment.”

“While our own investigation continues, we have concluded that Mr. Solomon violated his ethical obligations as a reporter, as well as our standards,” the paper said.

The investigation by the AP, oddly enough, was a byproduct of a totally different investigation involving an Iranian-born “aviation magnate”.

Azima is allegedly tied to mob figures but was under a level of immunity due to his work as a gunrunner for the CIA.